Writer: Charles Ardai
Penciller: Ace Continuado
Inker: Jose Zapata
Colorist: Asifur Rahman
Letterer: David Leach
Cover Artist: Celina
Publisher: Titan Comics
Price: $17.99
Release Date: February 27, 2024
Marked for death, Joanna Tan and Brook Barrow travel to New York. They hope her friend Dahlia Racers can help shake intelligence agents off their trail. But can a magician's illusionist make them disappear? Let’s burn into Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series Vol 1 and find out!
Story
Dahlia Racers trades in lies and deception. Like Jonathan Creek, she spends most days designing illusions for magicians. Then there are her extracurricular activities. When people get in trouble, they need to disappear. Deceiving loan sharks doesn’t test Dahlia’s abilities. But convincing government intelligence agents like Jeremy Kruger and Wyatt Gorman that Joanna Tan and their former pal Brook Barrows bit the dust? That's another level of crazy.
Faking murders, dressing people up in disguises, and sending them on their way is the easy part. Leaving a false trail for killers to follow enhances Dahlia's illusion. Convincing pursuers that their intended victims met an untimely end after faking their deaths and running off to hide is Dahlia's most challenging task in Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series Vol 1. Dahlia gets help from friends like Pedro Dizon and Elysin Wonderland. But complications arise when Pedro’s sister learns he died in Las Vegas. Tala is a part-time gun dealer. And she isn’t happy that Dahlia got her brother killed.
As Dahlia winds her way from New York to Las Vegas and Mexico, a hunter pursues her. Sarah Claride expects lies and deception. Sure, she kills people for the money. But Sarah Claride gets a thrill from hunting her prey in Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series Vol 1. The more a job challenges her, the bigger the thrill. And once Sarah sinks her teeth into a case, she won’t let anyone or anything get in the way of killing her target.
In Charles Ardai’s story, the bodies Sarah leaves behind worry Jeremy Kruger. He and Wyatt Gorman have skeletons in their closets. The last thing they need is Sarah to attract their superiors’ attention. But Sarah doesn't care about their office politics. Sarah has sunk her teeth into Dahlia. Finding Dahlia takes her one step closer to killing Joanna Tan and Brook Barrow, collecting Jeremy Kruger’s stack of cash, and reveling in the satisfaction of another triumphant hunt.
Art
Ace Continuado and Jose Zapata deliver spectacle as Dahlia leaps off the balcony of Vicente Boracchio’s magic theater before visiting Elysin Wonderland’s Las Vegas show. Moments of high-flying action in Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series Vol 1 include a shootout in the desert and a chase down the outside of a multistory building. Dahlia's escape plan involves stripping down for numerous costume changes. If those scenes don’t steam up your reading glasses, a visit to a topless sunbathing resort and a nudist camp will.
Asifur Rahman lavishes a loaded palette upon Jeremy Kruger and Wyatt Gorman's intense office meetings, Sarah's stabbings and shootouts, and Dahlia's erotic interludes. Dahlia wears a wig of long, red hair over her short blonde hair and favors a green suit with a V-neck that nearly extends to her navel. Rahman imbues night scenes with color and ample lighting, while the action scenes often include crimson.
David Leach launches black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. The font grows bold for inflection and occasionally shrinks in Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series Vol 1. Sound effects include gunfire, doorbells, more gunfire, roaring engines, even more gunfire, explosions, and yet more gunfire. Thanks to Titan Comics and Hard Case Crime for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
While Dahlia Racers designs illusions for magicians, she also helps people disappear. But when Joanna Tan needs her help, Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series Vol 1 reveals the lengths Dahlia will go to for her friends and how much they love her for it.
Rating 9.2/10
To preview interior art see my preview at The Dragon's Cache.
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